I have just taken Pippa for a walk to rivelin. As i approached the park i could see a german shepherd and a border collie playing. As soon as the german shepherd saw Pippa (who was on a lead),it charged full speed at us. I managed to block it getting to Pip, but it tried again. At this point its owners will casually stood talking and made NO attempt to restrain it-just kept saying "Max stop it". On the 3rd attempt at charging us it got pip, went for her back and flipped her completely over. Pip screamed and yelped but still they didn't move :rant:.

In the end i had to pick her up and carry her until it could no longer see this dog, and it still hadn't been put on a lead. Poor pip is now terrified :(. What upset me most is when we saw a labrador further on our walk and pip who normally loves dogs, lied down in the mud with her ears flat with her chin on her paws. Luckily this dog was very gentle and made her tail wag again.

How can some owners be so irresponsible?? This dog was a psycho. It was yelping and howling all the time. I dread to think what damage it may have done if i hadn't picked pip up.

Rant over.

That must have been so frightening for you and Pippa!

Molly gets really anxious when she sees other dogs and runs towards other dogs barking, which can scare them, so when we see another dog she goes back on the lead and we're working on sitting her down calmly and rewarding her for ignoring the other dog and not barking when they walk past her.

How can someone not react when their dog is creating havoc like that? I'm really aware that a large dog can cause so much fear, even if it's not actually doing any physical harm to the other dog or its owner.

Thats is the only time ive ever been scared. Big dogs dont usually bother me, there are 2 weimaraners we normally see and pip loves them.

aww thats aweful , When i am walking I keep a close eye out for others around me and certainly wouldn't ignor whats going on around me. I had a woman shout me that my dog was doing something to her dog once , he was by my knee at the time and the other dog wasn't mine !!!

Brude's back was broken by a much bigger dog who was only playing

Whilst recuperating we regularly had the problem of indignant people yelling 'he won't hurt him' after their enormous and out of control dog came bounding over and I was adopting a stance protecting Brude's back

Informing them of the injury always elicited an apology, but as far as I'm concerned this should never have been necessary in the first place - a dog should never be in the position of making the decisions as to who it can approach in the first place. It should await a prompt from the owner as to whether permission is given or not

'We have kennel cough' is still the most effective tool for forcing owners to gain control of an unruly mutt :D

I never really thought about an injury like that. Should have really considering it literally ran her over a full speed. She only an 8kg cavie.

I've always been frustrated by those people who don't mind their dogs. I suspect they are the same ineffectual folks you see in the supermarket half-heartedly repeating "stop that" and "don't make me tell you again" to their screaming, rampaging kids.

I'm still quite shocked that dogs are allowed to be out without leads here. Where I'm from, law dictates that your dog must be on a lead, unless you are in a designated off-lead area. Even as an experienced dog owner and trainer, I find myself on my guard when I am out and encounter a strange dog off lead.

I'm still quite shocked that dogs are allowed to be out without leads here. Where I'm from, law dictates that your dog must be on a lead, unless you are in a designated off-lead area. Even as an experienced dog owner and trainer, I find myself on my guard when I am out and encounter a strange dog off lead.

The problem is, as far as I am aware, there are no 'desginated off lead areas', so we have to make judgements about where it is safe/practical to exercise our dogs. My partner or I have met most of the walkers in our area so its quite a nice place for the dogs to socialise. That said, I had to bite my lip with the owner who I saw recently off leading a bitch that they knew to be in season (and a good runner).

I walk daily around and see quite few people not even watching their dogs !!! i watch mine all the time they are off their leads. I have to be careful all the time with mine not that they would hurt another dog but rather they are very social with dogs

Same here. Pip was on her lead as we were walking past the park, and children usually run up to stroke her. She can be a bit jumpy tho. If i had my child in the park I would not be happy about this dog running around.

The problem is, as far as I am aware, there are no 'desginated off lead areas', so we have to make judgements about where it is safe/practical to exercise our dogs. My partner or I have met most of the walkers in our area so its quite a nice place for the dogs to socialise. That said, I had to bite my lip with the owner who I saw recently off leading a bitch that they knew to be in season (and a good runner).

I'm a little disappointed that I haven't seen any fenced public areas for dogs to run. I've always liked them back home, because it A) kept dogs safe from cars, bikes, etc. and B) kept people safe from dogs, and gave folks who weren't dog-friendly free access to parks.

And URGH, I always cringe when I see a child dash over to stroke a strange dog without asking first, and I want to smack parents I see encouraging it-- especially with puppies. Puppies are prone to nipping, and their teeth are very sharp!

I'm a little disappointed that I haven't seen any fenced public areas for dogs to run. I've always liked them back home, because it A) kept dogs safe from cars, bikes, etc. and B) kept people safe from dogs, and gave folks who weren't dog-friendly free access to parks.

I wish there was something like that around here. I' much rather take her somewhere that was especially for dogs. Provided the people who used it remember to scoop the poop. It'd be even better if it had:

(a) Designated off lead/ socialising times
(b) A doggy play area

I'm sure if anyone started it up they could make a fortune. I'd happily pay a pound a time.

Ed: I've just found this: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/web-allbysubject/3F39EF9AC04882E0802574600051EFF0

I'm a little disappointed that I haven't seen any fenced public areas for dogs to run. I've always liked them back home, because it A) kept dogs safe from cars, bikes, etc. and B) kept people safe from dogs, and gave folks who weren't dog-friendly free access to parks.

And URGH, I always cringe when I see a child dash over to stroke a strange dog without asking first, and I want to smack parents I see encouraging it-- especially with puppies. Puppies are prone to nipping, and their teeth are very sharp!Oooo - a person after my own heart :D

we had far less problems with things like dog bites when kids knew how to behave, and that's down to parents

mind you, more of us owned dogs (and kids) so the novelty wasn't there, and dogs weren't perceived as moving fluffy toys... oh, and kids who said 'I want' didn't get ;)

I wish there was something like that around here. I' much rather take her somewhere that was especially for dogs. Provided the people who used it remember to scoop the poop. It'd be even better if it had:

(a) Designated off lead/ socialising times
(b) A doggy play area

I'm sure if anyone started it up they could make a fortune. I'd happily pay a pound a time.

Ed: I've just found this: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/web-allbysubject/3F39EF9AC04882E0802574600051EFF0Whilst us dog owners would love spaces that are secure for training our dogs, we are better off not asking for them, else we'll wind up being restricted to those spaces if they ever materialise!

at the moment there are people who've chosen to buy their house based on the dog walking facilities nearby, but if the council get the idea that they can have dog walking areas, the logical next step is that many of us will lose our favourite walks altogether, and we'll have more dogs using the restricted areas leading to more dog aggression incidents!

Can we pretend this conversation never got started? ;)

Whilst us dog owners would love spaces that are secure for training our dogs, we are better off not asking for them, else we'll wind up being restricted to those spaces if they ever materialise!

at the moment there are people who've chosen to buy their house based on the dog walking facilities nearby, but if the council get the idea that they can have dog walking areas, the logical next step is that many of us will lose our favourite walks altogether, and we'll have more dogs using the restricted areas leading to more dog aggression incidents!

Can we pretend this conversation never got started? ;)

OK, zipped ;)